accio brick - the lego harry potter comm

There's not a lot going on in the world of JKR's Harry Potter lego right now, so I've been exploring lego representations of a few other authors' works, particularly where I feel they might slot in nicely with the lego Wizarding World. Today the Lego Jane Austen GWP special went live, in honour of the 250th anniversary of her birthday. Sticking with the theme, in the coming days I'll be taking a look at two Jane Austen MOCs from TJBricks - Barton Cottage from 'Sense and Sensibility' and Pemberley from 'Pride and Prejudice' - which have been submitted to lego Ideas, a platform where fans can vote for sets they like and if they reach 10K votes, lego considers them for production. Personally I think that's an excellent way to get people to engage and a great way to showcase fan creativity. It's free to register, and you can vote for as many designs as you like, and there's never any obligation to purchase if it does get released, so support away to your heart's content! And even if lego decides not to release the set? There's still a chance fans will - with official lego pieces and everything - via Bricklink. All very cool, even if not always affordable. 😆

One unfortunate drawback to the Ideas projects is they aren't forced to discuss piece counts or keep potential pricing realistic. Another is that lego generally doesn't rework the sets in a significant way, and as a result some of the design choices are more simplistic or, at the other end of the spectrum, senselessly extravagant than they would be were they projects exclusively from lego's eminently capable hands. Some adjustment of expectations is required due to those aspects. Lego is also perfectly aware of the pricing problems, and support of a project increases the chances that some form of it might see the light of day, so don't let minor quibbles keep you from voting for it, especially as lego remains MOCable. Change at will, my lovelies!

Today I'll be reviewing Barton Cottage...( Read more... )

As a whole, great job, or I frankly wouldn't bother to niggle. This really gives you a starting point to work with, material to sink your teeth into. Further I'd like to mention the effort they've gone to on social media, reddit, youtube, Jane Austen forums, Ideas subreddits, Classical Lit, Period Dramas, National Trust, etc. interacting with, y'know, people (I know, right?) to promote their work, which is a non-trivial part of launching an Ideas campaign, and something in all honesty I can't see myself ever having the energy to do. (No way, no how. 😐) There's even a little commercial (video) that I'm non-trivially jealous of 😆 that they've made for the Pemberley project, which was ... is there a chef's kiss emoji? There should be. 👩‍🍳💋 Anyway, phenomenal work all around, and I wish them a boatload of success with it, not the least because I want this set, naturally... 😉

So if you have a moment and are so inclined, you can help support them here by voting for their project on the lego Ideas site.

So, fangirling took place, because I'm me and fundamentally can't help it, and MicMacPadWac took another crack at it and redesigned the build as what it might look like if it were a Hogwarts Moments set, and now the world has this, which is too cool for words:



Contrasting it with the original SEC,



we see the Moments version has gained in height and shortened in both the width of the central piece (from 10 to 4 studs) and the sides, but it's a strong contender as set design goes. (One guess as to what I'll be doing with the extra pieces from that Potions set I ordered last week. 😆) Headcanon: they wouldn't need the ladder at all (what are wands for?), except Narcissa is too nearsighted to read the titles on the upper shelves and too vain to wear specs. 😉



I think I'm going to try to take a shot at widening the set while attempting to keep the book format, and perhaps there'll be room for those armchairs while I'm about it (to say nothing of the Caol Ila...😉).

In honour of the event, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington took the liberty of decorating one of the castle's roomier dungeons (some liberties may have been taken in the depiction) with black candles, which gave off an eerie bluish glow, and a haunting of black hangings to set the mood. He further hired a ghostly orchestra to play the musical saw for the festivities, and - not to be outdone - ordered a variety of food that had been tainted to make it stronger, increasing the likelihood his ghostly guests would be able to taste and thus partake of the meal. The repast included large, rotten fish on handsome silver platters, cakes burned charcoal-black and heaped on salvers, maggoty haggis, mouldy cheese, and, in pride of place, an enormous grey cake in the shape of a tombstone, which quite naturally displayed his name and date of death in tar-like frosting. As though there could have been any other choice... Pfft.

I figure this should suit both those pro- and con- marking the day, depending on which aspects you choose to focus on... 😐 Eurobrick's forum user Micmac created this cute MOC scene representing Nearly Headless Nick's 500th Death Day celebration feast. (I particularly like the ghost with the party hat and his MOC Bloody Baron. lol)

Happy Thanksgiving to those observing. 😊

Uncle Vernon's sister Marge (if possible, even less charming than her brother) visits the Dursley home during the Summer of 1993, between Harry's second and third years at Hogwarts. A few insults too many, she's considerate like that, and Harry (never the most even keeled of wizards) loses his temper and with an amusing bit of accidental wandless magic causes Aunt Marge to inflate and just... float away. Harry grabs his trunk and storms from the house while Vernon tries to hang on to his... flighty sister.



picture by BonkersBricks

4 Privet Drive 75968 and the Knight Bus 75957. Nice detail: the inclusion of Marge's English Bulldog Ripper. (Another good option would be the this guy.) In fact, the only thing missing from this vignette is Sirius Black in animagus form. (Suggestions for your own MOCs: the Grim, Alsatian)

BonkersBricks has made the plans for their clever MOC of Aunt Marge (shown above) available on Rebrickable, parts list included.